


the 1

by goldenfolklores



Series: invisible string [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, F/M, New Dream, Ouch, Pain, Post-Break Up, Romance, Tragic Romance, also it pained me to write this i just cant, head full, it hurts, it's very angsty, new dream broke up basically, rapunzel-centric, romance implied maybe, thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:00:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25898581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenfolklores/pseuds/goldenfolklores
Summary: a stroll in the city takes rapunzel in a string of thoughts and what-ifs
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: invisible string [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879408
Kudos: 7





	the 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this ficlet is one of those that has been heartbreaking to write. post break up new dream just hits hard, but anyway, i hope you enjoy this ficlet and let me know what you think! ♡

It was the hour of the day where things were silent in Corona and not much happened at those. Not a lot of people went out that much at this dead time, nevertheless, there were still people who did.

A woman with short brown hair was walking past the sidewalks, her head hung down and her hands were wrapping her cardigan closer to herself. The wind had been chilly and she liked to keep herself warm, but that wasn't Rapunzel's biggest problem right now. She didn't really pay attention to what reality had to offer as her mind kept racing back and forth.

She was good, really, she's onto some new things even. She's been changing from these past couple of months after everything that had happened, and in her opinion, she was changing for the better. The more she improved, the more that she could take her mind off the past. She smiled at herself slightly, despite the dark skies above her. She knew there was always a reason to smile no matter what and that's one of the things her friends admired about her. She was a ray of sunshine no matter what, but even the sun doesn't have the best days.

Perhaps this was one of them.

Another gust of wind made her jolt, making her keep her cardigan close to her body more and went to the side to button it. She looked around. This place seemed familiar. The district was like a blur.

Oh.

She looked up the sign and it was The Snuggly Duckling. God it's been so long, she hadn't been here for months. There were so many memories made in this place alone. Like when she and Cass when they hung out here on weekends, meeting up with their friends, she even met someone special here. The man she'd loved so much, the one that she'd dreamed of, that was until-

_… Right._

She hadn't been into this bar ever since she and Eugene had broken up. She never had the guts to show up here after. She assumed she always headed here and coming up would leave a tense and awkward atmosphere, and maybe the tension of seeing Eugene in the same place after a long time of not seeing each other. Either way, she didn't want to cause any of that. She felt as if she'd caused enough trouble.

Come to think of it, despite all that, there were so many good times around here. In this city alone, they had so many memories together that they weren't that countable. Too many memories that are forever engraved on the back of her mind as a reminder. She had to smile bitterly at the situation. They were really something, at least she thought so. She'd hope that it meant something for him in the least. She hoped that there was a hint of him thinking that they had something special together. Wait, she shouldn't even be thinking of him…

She tried to brush it off afterwards, walking away from the pub before she thought of something else that reminded her of their past relationship. She had had that on her mind one too many times, she didn't want to get mopey about it again, but her real hidden feelings are slowly betraying her. She was slowly being flooded by thoughts, questions unanswered.

Trying her hardest to brush it off, she headed to the Sunday matinée, hoping to distract herself. She knew that there was nothing that a good show could fix. Besides, she's heard that there were good flicks out this weekend. She could use a little comeback in cinema going.

* * *

After the show, she felt more alone than she was walking in. The show was… cute. It gave one for the hopeless romantics and fueled their gushing even more. Rapunzel thought it was adorable, but she couldn't help but still be reminded. Especially by the scenes it held, they reminded her the more that she watched. She didn't want to keep thinking about him, she was past that.

So she tried to brush it away, summoning every willpower she had. She tried to move forward, shaking her head as her mind raced, everything was slowly starting to remind her of him. Memories slowly made their presence to her vision. She felt as if she was hallucinating from thinking too much of him today and she felt as if it was inevitable and there was no use in trying to shake it off. She'd look like a fool doing so. No matter how hard she tries to avoid him or the idea of him, she couldn't. It's as if an invisible string was tied to them and she couldn't take it off.

The streets reminded her where they walked hand in hand in days and nights, in each other's company as they held each other happily. God, those were some of the best times they'd spent. Happy, content, free, in each other's warmth. Just thinking about those made her miss him all the more than she did earlier. 

She'd wondered how he was, how he handled things. She knew that it had been a mutual separation due to lack of communication on both sides, and to this day, she thought of it as one of the biggest regrets she'd have that she didn't do anything to fight for their supposed love.

Still, she felt like falling back into so many things that might have been, so many what ifs that stuck around as the calm after the storm took over them. If only they'd settled things, if only they thought the same way that it didn't have to end like the way it did. She knew she could never bring back time just for that. And she'd learned that if you never bleed, you'll never get to grow. But still, it stung her. _He_ had stung her.

All those times together, she poured her heart and soul to him, giving her all that she had and and she always saw him do the same when it came to her. He treated her like a queen, maybe a goddess even, but time changed and whilst she knew he loved her as much as she did, it always seemed like she was slowly becoming the only one working in the relationship. He was a slightly showy person when it came to giving affection, but after months of being together, that seemed to fade away. She thought that he was only going through things but as time flew, when it came to her, he slowly started to slip away from her, becoming uninterested in their own spark until that tiny sliver of it made itself nonexistent, until it was as if she was in a relationship with nothing but a ghost.

If he'd really wanted her then, he should have shown it and he shouldn't have led her on and hung onto broken promises. She always suspected that maybe, he just wasn't interested in being the one and only for him anymore.

She knew his past and his history with people and she was afraid that the same might happen to her.

And it did.

And now that he's gone, it was another day of waking up alone, not knowing when that spark that she felt for him could come back.

After him, she wasn't even certain if she could feel such feelings for anyone else. She gave him a little bit too much than she even expected and now, she seemed hopeless, but she wasn't that desperate. She's not really that looking for someone else at the moment. She needed more time to cope and more time to herself.

Though she couldn't help but think, her thoughts from earlier were blossoming and growing into more and more of the questions that she herself could not even bear to answer like, if she ever changed his mind, if she convinced Eugene that they could work it out, would everything be different? Would he still be here by her side? Or would they end up in the same state they were now? She was both curious for the answer but she knew that once she got the answer she needed, she would most likely be terrified to face it, afraid that what she might be thinking all this time was wrong and was all for getting her hopes up.

Finally, she sighed in defeat. There was no use, he was gone. Those questions in her will be buried along with all remnants of her feelings for him in time. Not now, but maybe someday.

They'd most likely never cross paths ever again and as much as it pains her, she has to face the music of this. Besides, hey, he might have moved on. He might have met a woman off a dating app, hit it off, and hell maybe they'll be having drinks of rosé together now to celebrate their love. Not that she cared… but she did.

There was no use, so she heads off home in yet another defeat. She was actually slowly getting used to it…

That was until she saw a familiar head of hair on the bus stop, just in time when he was about to stand up and step into the bus himself.

"Eugene…?" She whispered out more to herself than the man that was almost near her reach, hoping what she was seeing wasn't just a figment of missing someone and the imagination that came with it.

Dark hair, same stature, could it be… could it really be him? She only had one way to find out. She ran after the bus stop and the man himself turned to face her in confusion.

It wasn't him. It was someone else. She stood there in disappointment and shock, disappointed. She'll really have to face the fact that it was gone and over with.

"Are you getting on?" The driver had asked and she stepped away sheepishly, shaking her head in a timid style. The doors closed and drove away out of her sight.

She sighed. She'd almost hit the ground tonight. She had to be more careful. She walked away and home, it being not too far. She'll never get the chance to be with him again, hope was gone as she walked away, yet it could have been fun if he'd be the one for her.

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah that happened... and it hurts lol, let me know what you think and thank you for reading!


End file.
